Tips for the New School Year

Whether you’re a nervous freshman embarking upon your (seemingly endless) four-year-long journey here at PHS, or a seasoned veteran senior who knows all the ends and outs of this school, starting a new school year on the right note can be challenging! The beginning of any new school year can be a time of anxiety or excitement, it can be a time for laughter or tears, and, for some of us, it can be a time to completely reinvent who we are as Pirates. From trying to figure out where all of your new classes are to wondering if your grades are going to improve this year, or from pondering how you will ever have time for a social life to doing your absolute best to make an overall positive first impression on your new teachers, the beginning of the school year is an interesting transitional time to say the least.

With that in mind, we here at “The Pirate Speaks” would like to offer 10 tips for how to start your school year off right so that every day WILL be a great day to be a Pirate!

Challenge Yourself – We’ll start our list off with what we believe to be the single most important tip for any high school student: challenging ourselves. The best thing to do in high school is to challenge yourself – take hard classes, study more, try out for different groups or clubs etc. The more you do in high school, the easier your college career and, later, your job as an adult will be.

Be Responsible – Being able to keep up with eight classes can be very stressful, but it will pay off in the end. Learning to be responsible in high school will set you up for success in college. Also, when studying, it is easier to locate all the materials when they are in a neat order.

Start Thinking About a Career that Interests You – You can revolve future classes around that one career. You can also save a lot of money by taking those college classes in high school rather than waiting for college. We offer several classes like that here at PHS! They end up saving you money, and those classes are usually much easier to pass in high school anyway.

Listen to Your Teachers – Always listen to your teachers because they have been where you are now, and they know what is best for you even if you think the opposite. Even if you think your teachers do not like you, it is not true! They DO like you! They just want to challenge you because not everything will be easy in life. They will not always be around to assist you.

Keep Your Grades Up – You may think grades are not important; however, once you are an upperclassman, you will see just how much those grades truly matter. Keeping your grades up will save you a LOT of money when you go to apply for colleges and scholarships, and they will also save you a LOT of struggle because you will not have to take remediation (which nobody likes). Just try your best and you will make high school the best you can make it.

Try Your Absolute Best to Avoid Trouble – Discipline is very important, especially if you want to be exempt from taking your exams for your classes. In addition, you also get the added benefits of things like “Pirate of the Month,” Bravo break, “Pizza and a Movie” once every 9 weeks, and – MOST IMPORTANTLY – the less time you spend in the office, the more time you will spend in the classroom! This will have the added benefit of helping with Tip #5! Behave well and it will reward you in the end.

Be Yourself – Trying to “fit in” with everybody else and be someone you are not in high school will make it even more stressful than it already is. Just be yourself and you WILL find true friends that will help you through high school and all throughout your life.

Enjoy It While You Can – High school is a time to have fun: go to dances, go to sports games, go to plays, go to choir concerts, go to band performance – enjoy every single bit of it. Enjoyment and making memories are two of the main purposes of high school.

Be Social – Making a lot of friends will make high school way more fun for you. Get along with your teachers like they are older friends, because ultimately they will always help you and be there for you. Meet new people because not all of your old friends will stay with you. The memories you make with your friends here will always stay with you.

Take Advantage of Every School Activity – Prom, white-out dances, football games, club meetings, band competitions, musicals, and many other activities are a great way to find new friends and even make memories to last a lifetime. These events are wonderful places for big laughs, great times, and fantastic company. Times like these will be what make high school worth it in the end.